The aroma of food fills the cafeteria. Sitting around the kitchen, Eira sat across from me on a metal stool as Amiel sat next to me. Ael, on the other hand, was finishing cooking the food. As he finished making the food, he placed a plate in front of each of us. It was some stew mixed with different types of vegetables around here.
"Smells good." I let out.
"Will taste good too, try it," Ael replied.
Before I could comment on the taste, Eira took a bite, "It is good. Really good in fact. Thank you." Her face stretched, revealing a smile.
Ael turned, returning a smile to her. "You're welcome."
Ael, now settling down, sat next to me. "So, you have no memories, do you?"
Eira, as she was about to take another bite of the stew, stopped mid-action. "No. How'd you know?"
Ael gave me a side eye. Everything was aligning with what I said. "A guess. How long have you been here for?"
"I don't know, all I remember was about three days' worth."
"That's as long as we've been up here for," Amiel added.
In a quiet tone, I said, "So do you guys believe me now?"
"Yes, sadly, we do." Said Amiel, sighing, not because I was right, but because he learned how much worse the situation was than he had realized.
"Believe what?" Eira asked.
Ael, taking a deep breath, said, "Eirian here believes that we are reliving the same week." He leaned on his hand, placing his elbow on the counter.
"What!?"
"I don't believe, I know. Everything I said has been true, no?"
Ael shrugged his shoulders, "Seems like it."
"That's why if you know anything, anything at all, we would be forever grateful."
Eira stayed quiet for a moment. "I don't, I'm sorry."
"That's fine," Ael replied.
We all stood in silence before Eira turned toward me and spoke up again. "Question, when you first saw me, you called me something. What was it?"
"Eira, it's the name I gave you before regressing. It means snow. If you don't like it, I can scrape it."
"No, no, it's fine, Eira is just fine." She waved her hands, denying it. Calming down, she placed her hands on her lap. "By chance... would it be possible to join you guys. I don't have anyone, and this is the closest I've found to something." Her voice became soft as she hesitated to have these words leave her lips.
Before I could reply, Ael said, "That's perfectly fine." He smiled, welcoming her into our little makeshift group. After doing so, he turned toward Amiel and me, "Now that we know what Eirian is telling us is correct, we need to figure out a way out. The best hope we have is that dream and that notebook that Eirian has."
Fumbling to take it from my pocket, I placed it on the counter where we all sat. Continuing from where Ael left off, "If we can decipher this, then maybe we can figure out what is going on, or at least get an idea."
Ael, "I think I can handle that."
"You can?" Amiel said, questioning Ael's ability to do so.
"Of course I can, I used to do this type of puzzle all the time as a kid. Just give me the night. Eira, since you just joined us, how about you help me? I can catch you up on any questions you have."
"Yes, that would be great. Thank you." She replied.
"Amiel, I know this is still redundant, but try figuring out any other way to contact people outside of the veil."
"What I was planning regardless." He replied.
As they all move into their own roles, I am left standing. "What about me?" I pointed toward myself.
"Right... try figuring out what makes you go into that dream of yours. If your dream and the notebook are connected, then it might be the key to getting out."
---
After a few hours of brainstorming, I came up with nothing.
'Both times I entered the dream, it was under entirely different circumstances. The first time, I was asleep; the second time, I was fully awake. Different time periods; heck, even the dream itself looks different both times. The second time I was there, it looked more complete than the first time. The only thing that stayed the same was the voice and the phrase it repeated. To remember them, but who?'
I sat down outside the cafeteria as Ael and Eira were in the kitchen trying to decipher the text. Amiel, on the other hand, was out trying to figure out different ways to contact people.
"Was remembering this 'person,' this 'thing' the key to getting back there?"
Feeling more frustrated, I couldn't help but close my eyes, and I leaned back on the cafeteria walls. Beginning to feel sleepy, the world grew dark, quiet once again. I was back in the dreamlike place I'd just been wishing to get into before. The world seemed the same as I remembered it before, but this time the voice wasn't repeating the same phrase. This time it spoke to me directly.
"You searched for me?" The female voice spoke. Startled, I don't find the words to speak. She laughed. "You were trying to find a way to come back here, and yet, you don't say anything?"
Recomposing myself, I cough. "No, just surprised." I looked around in the dark abyss, but didn't find her. "So you can finally talk to me?"
"Seems like it."
Looking around for someone, I said, "Why not show yourself too then?"
"Well, if I did that, you would die. And I am sure you don't want that."
"I would die?" I questioned in surprise. "Why?"
I stopped looking around and instead looked back up at the sky, where stars flew across it just to be reflected in the shallow water I stood on.
"Well, that's simple, I am not meant to be seen by your eyes."
"Again, why?" I replied, growing more confused.
"Because human eyes cannot handle the sight of a god."